VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Victoria
VictoriaThe British Columbia Parliament Buildings

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Victoria by Guilice, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Victoria?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’s own page.

Choose Victoria for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Victoria’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Philadelphia 36, Victoria 28: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Victoria 50: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Victoria 42: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Victoria 30: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Victoria 77: Victoria leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Victoria 54: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Victoria 62: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Victoria 60: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Victoria 40: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Victoria 34: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Victoria 40: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Victoria 48: Victoria leads by 22 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Victoria.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.

Victoria
47match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Victoria in July

21 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaVictoria

Where the figures come from

Victoria's sunshine is measured 87 km from the centre, at Vancouver International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Victoria: 1991-2020 normals, Victoria Gonzales CS (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaVictoria
Official language-French, English
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m23 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsVictoria International Airport (YYJ)25 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaVictoria
City population1,603,79791,867
People per km²4,3394,711
Museums within 10 km546
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Victoria somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.